Warning: This is a review of a Tarantino film, I’m going to swear. Get the fuck over it, it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t…

Plot:

I don’t want to give too much away. All you need to know is that the film takes place during WWII in Nazi-occupied France, where a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as “The Basterds” are sent in to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by killing Nazis in as many obscene ways as possible.

The Good:

A Short to Start: The first 20 minutes of this film are fucking phenomenal. Tarantino is known for delivering great monologues and much like Samuel L. Jackson’s “…and I will strike down upon thee…” speech in Pulp Fiction, this scene will go down in history as a great. With two people just sitting at a table, there is so much suspense, so much rich dialogue, so much great acting. It’s as perfect as it gets.

Christoph Waltz: Now, aside from the one person mentioned below, I LOVED almost every performance in the film, but none of them quite add up to Waltz who is quite possibly one of the most dynamic, interesting and entertaining actors to watch. You absolutely never knew what he was going to do next and he had you mesmerized the entire time. A close second goes to Brad Pitt, who completely transformers himself and nails the humor in his blood thirsty, Nazi scalping, character.

The Dialogue: This should be a given. Aside from blood spurting, great dialogue is the other thing we have come to love from Tarantino and he doesn’t disappoint.

The Costumes and Sets: The film looks amazing. No spot was left un-decorated. Everything from the clothes to each Basterd having their own weapon of choice, to the high-heeled cast — all of it was perfectly placed.

The Comedy with the Seriousness: Let’s face it, the Holocaust is still one of the most touchy subjects around. It’s not easy to make a mainstream movie about the Holocaust that has a lot of humor in it, leave it to Tarantino to pave the way. He does not shy away from the horror of the Holocaust, and yet also has no fear in setting up a joke in a scene others would think is too sensitive. He takes no prisoners and makes no exceptions, and it pays off in the end.

The Bad:

Mike Myers: He’s not supposed to be the funny one in the scene, so I don’t know why he was doing his Austin Powers impression. It doesn’t come off as funny and steals away from Michael Fassbender’s humor.

Choppy: Unlike the choppiness in Kill Bill, I could feel it in this film. Something about it didn’t flow quite as nicely as I would have liked.

Overall:

The film was fucking amazing, but one of the problems with having a director as distinctive as Tarantino, is that you A. Set ridiculously high expectation for him and B. You most likely already have a favorite film of his, that you’ve watched a million times and are willing to fight tooth and nail for. Although this is not my favorite film of his, (possibly due to my own biases) it’s a great film and even though it started an hour late and I was exhausted, it FLEW by. Not many directors who do ten minute scenes with two people talking at a table can keep you that enthralled for that long.